Railroad rail self-adjusting support structure



J- E. HICKEY May 26, 1970 RAILROAD RAIL SELF-ADJUSTING SUPPORT STRUCTURE I 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb.

FIG.

May 26, 1970 J. E. HlCKEY 3,514,035

RAILRQAD RAIL SELF-ADJUSTING SUPPORT STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 7, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet z IFIG. 5

A AA A A1 i4 [FIG. 6

United States Patent 3,514,035 RAILROAD RAIL SELF-ADJUSTING SUPPORT STRUCTURE John Edward Hickey, Taunton, Mass., assignor to Bird Tie Pads, Incorporated, Taunton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Feb. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 703,747 Int. Cl. E01b 9/00, 9/42 US. Cl. 238-306 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Railroad rail supported on upper flat surface of semicylindrical element, the bottom curved surface of which rests in a correspondingly curved groove in a tie plate secured to a tie, for automatic self-adjustment of the rail with respect to the tie.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in rail support of railroad trackage and more particularly to a self adjusting support structure to overcome the deteriorating effects of impacts, stresses and vibrations, due to the passage of heavy axle loadings at high speed over the track structure.

It is a further object of the invention, to balance the design of the track structure causing it to act as a twin load carrying device.

It is a still further object of the invention to neutralize the deteriorating effects of the so-called Wave Motion peculiar to railroad trackage.

It is a still further object of the invention to cause the basic components of the track structure, namely, rail, ties and ballast to perform properly, under the loadings of successive wheel groupings.

It is a still further object of the invention to eliminate tie cutting and mechanical Wear of tie components by causing the individual tie to remain inert in accepting and releasing heavy wheel groupings.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an impactless run off ahead and behind heavy wheel groupings eliminating impacts, stresses and vibrations that are destructive to track components and track adjustmerits.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide uniform track support, reducing maintenance expenditures for both track and equipment.

It is a still further object of the invention to increase the riding quality of the track structure allowing a wholly new degree of operating performance by conventional standard equipment. It is a still further object of the invention to reduce the deterioration of cross level, line and gauge by eliminating vertical and lateral impacts.

It is a still further object of the invention to eliminate rail end batter, a limiting factor in rail life, by causing the rail ends to flex before impact.

It is a still further object of the invention to greatly reduce bolt hole breaks in railroad rail by flexing rail ends.

It is a still further object of the invention to prevent deterioration of ballast beds under the individual tie by the exertion of a downward pressure from the center of the tie without impact.

It is a still further object of the invention to allow greatly increased speeds for conventional rolling stock, both freight and passenger, by providing a uniform track support.

It is a still further object of the invention to greatly reduce excessive curve wear of rail by current motive power through proper weight distribution.

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It is a still further object of the invention to eliminate so-called Center Bound track.

It is a still further object of the invention to reduce costs by the use of secondary quality tie components, due to the absence of impacts.

The invention features support structure for rotatably supporting a railroad rail on a railroad tie including an upper surface on the tie having a concave surface defining a semi-cylindrical groove parallel to the tie. A semi-cylindrical support element having a bottom surface corresponding to the groove is rotatably supported by the concave surface, the support element having an upper flat surface for supporting the rail. In preferred embodiments, a tie plate mounted on the tie forms the concave surface and the groove is substantially as long as the width of the bottom of the rail. Also the tie plate upper surface on both sides of the groove slants, in the direction of the rail, from the edges of the groove toward the tie.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention together with the attached draw ings thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of railroad trackage mounted on ties utilizing the self-adjusting support structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tie plate portion of the structure;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the support element portion of the structure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the mounting along the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the mounting along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 of an a1ternative embodiment.

There is shown in FIG. 1 parallel railroad rails 10 supported by the self-adjusting support structures of the invention, generally designated 12, mounted in turn on wooden railroad ties 14.

FIG. 2 shows a metal tie plate 16 which is part of selfadjusting support structure 12. Concave surface 18 of the tie plate forms a semi-cylindrical groove 20. FIG. 3 shows semi-cylindrical support element 22 whose upper surface 24 is fiat and lower surface 26 is curved to correspond to surface 18 of the tie plate. The lengths of groove 20 and support element 22 are about equal to the width of the bottom 23 of rail 10.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the support structure 12 assembled and in place. Support element 22 is in tie plate groove 20 and is supported by the tie plate on concave surface 18. Tie plate 16 is mounted on railroad tie 14 by tie plate spikes 28 driven through tie plate holes 30 into the wooden tie. Tie 14 rests on ballast 31.

The bottom 23 of rail 10 rests on the flat surface 24 of support element 22. Rail 10 is secured to tie 14 by two rail hold down spikes 32 driven through holes 34 in the tie plate on either side of the rail bottom. Movement of the rails 10 toward or away from each other is also prevented by the rail hold down spikes.

It should be noted from FIG. 5 that when support element 22 is in place in tie plate groove 20, its fiat surface 24 is above the upper surface 36 of tie plate 16.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a tie plate 116 has an upper surface 136 which slants away on both sides of groove 120 from the edge of the groove toward the railroad tie. Support element 122 is substantially identical to that of the first embodiment described.

In operation, the rail 10 is free to rock about an axis parallel to the railroad tie 12. The round bottom surface 26 of support element 22 is rotatable with respect to round surface 18 of groove 20 of tie plate 16 'while the bottom 23 of rail remains in solid supporting contact with flat surface 24 of the support element. Moreover, angular shifts with respect to the rail 10 of the tie 14 or the tie plate 16 about an axis parallel to the tie may occur Without affecting the rail level. This is the self-adjusting characteristic of the support structure 14.

The rotation of the rail with respect to the tie plate caused either by rocking or settling of the tie requires some clearance between the rail 10 and tie plate upper surface -36. If the rotation expected is not too great sufficient clearance may be obtained by being sure that the depth of support element 22 is great enough so that its upper flat surface 24 is above the upper surface 36 of tie plate 16, as seen in FIG. 5. If the rotation expected is greater this approach may not be adequate and it will be necessary to have the upper surface of the tie plate slant away from the edges of the tie plate groove, as shown in FIG. 6, to provide sufiicient clearance between the rail and tie plate.

Although the embodiment described shows a metal tie plate on a conventional wooden tie, the invention may be used with a concrete tie with suitable modification of fastening devices. The groove in which the semi-cylindrical support element is rotatably supported may be formed in the concrete tie itself and used alone or with a metal or other insert therein.

Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Support structure for rotatably supporting a railroad rail on a railroad tie lying perpendicular to the running direction of said rail comprising:

a tie plate mounted on said tie,

said tie plate having a concave surface defining a semicylindrical groove parallel to said tie, and

a semi-cylindrical support element having a bottom surface corresponding to said groove and rotatably supported by said concave surface,

said support element having an upper flat surface for supporting said rail rotatably about an axis perpendicular to the running direction of said rail and parallel to said tie, the edges of said flat surface adjacent the edges of said groove lying above said groove edges in at least one relative rotational position of said tie plate and said support element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said groove is substantially as long as the width of the bottom of said rail.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the upper surfaces of said tie plate on both sides of said groove slant, in the direction of said rail, from the edges of said groove toward said tie.

4. Support structure for rotatably supporting a railroad rail on a railroad tie lying perpendicular to the running direction of said rail comprising:

an upper surface on said tie having a concave surface defining a semi-cylindrical groove parallel to said tie, and

a semi-cylindrical support element having a bottom surface corresponding to said groove and rotatably supported by said concave surface,

said support element having an upper flat surface for supporting said rail rotatably about an axis perpendicular to the running direction of said rail and parallel to said tie, the edges of said flat surface adjacent the edges of said groove lying above said groove edges in at least one relative rotational position of said tie plate and said support element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,264,209 4/1918 Robbins 238304 1,411,318 4/ 1922 Wallinder 238304 1,616,011 2/1927 Valeri 238304 919,867 4/ 1909 Hopkins 238306 1,065,696 6/1913 Lundie 238306 1,246,980 11/1917 Morse et al. 238306 1,863,248 6/1932 McGrew 238306 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner US. or X.R. 23883, 264, 287 

